25
Jan

Vanguard’s 3 Benefits for Social Media Customer Service

It has been one year since The Vanguard Group, Inc., one of the largest investment management companies in the world, first utilized CEO, Bill McNabb to interact with and gain insights from clients through social media platforms. Vanguard was the first in the financial industry to feature such a day where leadership corresponded with their social media community for a full-day; this day entitled “McNabb Day.”

Vanguard has many unique attributes that make their social media presence a good fit. Although there are many complex legal implications that social media presents in a regulated industry, Vanguard still overcame challenges innate to their virtual presence by providing their leadership team with a way to stay accessible to investors and gain clients.

Instead of seeing social media as a barricade wedged between financial institutions and their customers, Vanguard presented “McNabb Day” as a campaign that gave real-time access to clients and fans in an open forum style Q&A day. This was an effort to give authentic and genuine insights to their community, put a face to the brand, and show differentiators from other investment management companies.

Vanguard’s 3 Major Benefits for Social Media Customer Service:

1. Humanizing The Brand

Social media is a natural extension of most if not all virtual business models. For instance, Vanguard.com has been an extension of their brand and storefront to the community. Their social media presence across multiple channels has been the new front porch for clients and fans to share their investing and personal finance experiences with friends and family.

2. Trust

Social media gives clients and fans insight into your company’s culture and core beliefs through behind-the-scenes content, videos, photos, or Q&A sessions with senior leaders. Instilling and maintaining trust in clients is a big factor, especially in this industry. Developing a social strategy that coincides with clients’ needs and organizational goals shows how different you are from other investment management companies and ascertain what is on clients’ minds.

Real-Time Customer Service
Vanguard, being client-owned, makes it their mission is to reduce the cost and complexity of investing for their clients. Social media stems into many communities where questions and comments circulate regardless of their presence. Vanguard’s implementation of “McNabb Day” was one of many initiatives they’ve implemented to discuss any topics on the forefront of their clients’ minds.

“At Vanguard our clients come first. It is in our DNA. -And Bill McNabb, as well as all of Vanguard’s leaders, are always interested in listening and interacting with our clients,” said Shayna Beck, Head of Retail Social Media at Vanguard. “[these are] qualities that make Vanguard combined with Bill and all of our leaders a natural social media presence.”

The three focal points mentioned above, along with the company’s core desire to help clients make sense of what they hear in the news and stay focused on their long term goals, are key reinforcements to Vanguard’s engagement through social media platforms. “McNabb Day” helped to show Vanguard that social media is an important way to connect with many existing and prospective clients at one time. It also supplemented existing marketing efforts to distinguish Vanguard from other firms.Visit www.vanguard.com, follow Vanguard on Twitter @Vanguard_Group or visit their Facebook page to learn more.